Letters to the Editor

As an Ontarians With Disabilities Act committee member and a director on the board of a poverty law clinic, not to mention a commission claimant, I’ve found that, from the executive privilege of declining to respond to flat-out stonewalling a claim’s progress, nothing seems too low for the commission if a disabled complainant appears “undeserving.”

The Ontario Human Rights Commission also has an inadequate mandate to compensate real losses attributable to abuse of persons with disabilities, which go beyond the “indignity” specified by the code. Further, discrimination against the poverty of persons with disabilities is no less than discrimination against the disability that makes poverty inescapable and perpetuates it. How far would Stephen Hawking have gotten redressing a claim for workplace re-entry with Ontario’s Human Rights Commission?

Geoff Langhorne

Hamilton

Solidarity, honest

first of all, congratulations to all the members of CUPE 3903 on their successful strike. I want to correct an impression that your article (NOW, January 11-17) might have given that there is some deep division within the labour ranks based on age.

This is simply not true, and this belief has in fact been created by the media. All members of the labour movement are bound by principle to support other unions, industrial or non-industrial. All of us also know that when the CAW or the Steelworkers show up on the picket lines, management start to shake in their Gucci shoes.

All these unions recognize something the press seems to unable to see, the central tenet of all labour movements everywhere: solidarity.

Gillian McCann

CUPE 3902

Don’t swallow the oils

i am a holistic practitioner, and
one of the modalities I practise is aromatherapy.

Last week I was contacted by one of your researchers requesting information on uses of aromatherapy to quit smoking. The article (NOW, January 11-17) suggested that essential oils be taken orally. It is with great concern for your readers that I wish to clarify the uses of essential oils. They are not to be taken orally. On rare occasions a professional aromatherapist will suggest taking them orally – in a specific, controlled quantity, and most importantly, only certain brands that always sell the purest, organically certified essential oils. It is my recommendation to use essential oils with caution.

Also, certain groups of people should seek out professional advice before using essential oils – pregnant women, people suffering pain because of a medical condition, the terminally ill, people who take large quantities of tranquilizers, those addicted to alcohol and drugs, and children. These are considered special cases who need controlled treatments of aromatherapy after consulting with their physician.

Antoinette DeSimone

Toronto

Thanks for review but...

I greatly appreciate that Colman Jones reviewed my book (NOW, November 9-16), but he made several critical errors.

The essence of his criticism is that my book “ignores” the co-factor theory, which suggests that HIV only causes problems when other pathogens already have infected a person. I do not ignore this theory – I dismiss it.
Jones attempts to bolster his case against HIV itself causing AIDS by claiming that the virus does not do anything “tangible” to other species, including chimpanzees, our closest relatives.

This argument is specious on two fronts. First, in 1997, researchers demonstrated unequivocally that chimps given a particular strain of HIV did develop AIDS, which led to an uproar from some scientists and animal conservationists who worried that AIDS vaccine developers might begin using this lethal strain routinely in chimp tests of AIDS vaccines. Secondly, many bugs are species-specific; the plasmodiums that cause human malaria, for example, do not cause symptomatic disease in other animals, including chimpanzees, the natural host for these parasites.

In another stab at challenging the evidence that HIV causes AIDS, Jones writes of “experimental vaccines that seem to produce strong immune responses against the virus but don’t appear to offer any protection against AIDS itself.”
Huh? As I document in Shots In The Dark, the experimental vaccines tested to date have received so much criticism from the AIDS research community precisely because they do not seem to produce strong immune responses against the virus.

Jon Cohen

Cardiff, California

The Jewish tragedies

re extreme honour (now, jan-
uary 11-17). Zionism is at once a heroic and tragic movement of the Jews. Twenty thousand soldiers have been killed fighting the Arabs since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and who knows when and where this most intractable international conflict of our time will end.
The recent murder of Binyamin Kahane and his wife and the wounding of five of his six children by Palestinian terrorists is but the latest tragedy that has befallen Israel’s leaders. Kahane and his father, rabbi Meir Kahane, who was himself assassinated in New York a decade ago, were both radical Zionists.

Former president Ephraim Katzir’s brother, a brilliant scientist, was slain by Japanese terrorists in a massacre at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport in 1972. Former president Ezer Weizman’s son was severely wounded in war and died in a car accident several years ago.

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother was killed in the historic raid on Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976. Former prime minister Menachem Begin’s grandson was killed in a military accident last year. Former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

Nothing, however, compares to the unimaginable tragedy of Theodor Herzl, father of political Zionism, and his family. Herzl died in 1904; he was only 44 years old. His wife died in 1907, she was only 39. Both of his daughters suffered from mental illness; one died of a heroin overdose, the other in a Nazi concentration camp. His son converted to Christianity and committed suicide. His only grandchild committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Washington, DC, in 1946. Thus ended the line of Herzl, the grand visionary of the Jews.

Jacob Mendlovic

Toronto

An interracial success

John Harkness’s critique of the
movie Save The Last Dance (NOW, January 11-17) bothered me. We must have watched a different movie, because I enjoyed it.

The issues of interracial dating were adequately addressed. Throughout the movie, the disapproval of family, friends and strangers came through in body language and jargon.
I thought Julia Stiles’s performance was missing something. The only time she looked relaxed and convincing was when she was dancing. Sean Patrick Thomas and his friend Malachi were believable and engaging. I’d watch the movie again just to see their performances.

Here is a film with a predominantly black cast and the only actor mentioned in Harkness’s critique is white. Why is that?

Although Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world, the media often reports things from a white-only perspective. I’m disappointed that in regards to this movie, NOW magazine did the same.

Doreen Muriel Leacock

Toronto

It’s the talent, not size

What’s new for toronto’s so-
called alternative press for 2001? Nothing, apparently, so long as papers like NOW insist on employing music critics for whom body size trumps incredible vocal talent (NOW, December 28-January 3). Dah! Large women like Virginia Rodrigues are both talented and sexy. Oh, grow up!

Lise Watson

Toronto

Nice story, wrong place

I was very pleased to see Fastwürms’ photo-based installation Superstition picked as one of the top 10 art shows of the year 2000. (NOW, December 28-January 3). Unfortunately it was attributed to the wrong gallery. The exhibition took place in Gallery TPW and we still have copies of the catalogue available, which includes an essay by curator John Marriott .

Gary Hall

Director, Gallery TPW

Correction: Constable Paul Van Seters (NOW, December 28-January 3) was charged with criminal negligence causing death, of which he was acquitted.

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Canadian Foreign Minister Baird RESIGNS!

John Baird to resign as foreign affairs minister, sources say

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will resign from his position in the Harper cabinet as early as Tuesday (Feb. 3rd), CBC News has learned.Sources say that Baird, who has served in several of the highest portfolios in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet, has told members of his staff that he won't run again and will be resigning this week.Click: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/john-baird-to-resign-as-foreign-affairs-minister-sources-say/ar-AA8UWuL?ocid=DELLDHP

Re.Canadian Government response to the conflict between Israel and Palestine

The reason Canada does not have a seat on the United Nations Security Council is your failure as a Canadian foreign minister to uphold UN Resolutions that recognize Palestine as a state. Moreover, after reading your recent correspondence (read below), not ONCE do you refer to UN demands to end Israel's occupation of Palestine.

When European countries are establishing diplomatic ties with the state of Palestine while demanding an end to Israeli human rights abuses in the Occupied Territories, Canada isolates itself by explicitly siding with the military occupier. By excusing Israel from international condemnation for its decades long occupation, you continue to alienate Canada from foreign policy objectives even the Americans now adhere to (I,e. an end to Israel's illegal settlements, the cessation of bombing campaigns in Gaza, the building of a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational, and multicultural states with pre-existing 1967 borders) ...it is no wonder that your Canadian diplomatic entourage was mocked, egged and asked to leave after your recent mission to Palestine. Click video: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/18/palestinian-protesters-throw-eggs-shoes-at-john-baird.html

On that most recent visit, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator demanded that Canada apologize to Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims “for standing in the way of recognizing an independent state of Palestine." He also declared that Canada was standing on “the wrong side of history by blindly supporting the Israeli occupation and its apartheid policies.” Click video: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/01/18/palestinian-protesters-throw-eggs-shoes-at-john-baird.html

So as Canadian foreign policy remains on the wrong side of history, you defend Israel and its human rights abuses, acknowledging that International Criminal Court proceedings into Israeli war crimes in Gaza are "deeply regrettable." What is truly regrettable, Mr. Baird is how you have become the sole apologist for Israel's occupation of Palestine, vindictively maligning domestic critics and UN member states (132 countries who voted to except Palestine as an observer state) who were once close allies of Canada.

Your displeasure with those who boycott Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians misses a crucial point - even South Africans make the link that Israel's apartheid policies are far worse than what they endured under white rule. Willie Madisha, President of COSATU, one of South Africa's largest labour unions, explains, "As someone who lived in apartheid South Africa and who has visited Palestine I say with confidence that Israel is an apartheid state. In fact, I believe that some of the atrocities committed against the South Africans by the erstwhile apartheid regime in South Africa pale in comparison to those committed against the Palestinians." Mr.Baird, that is why the University of Johannesburg severed ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, following a campaign by apartheid foe Archbishop Desmond Tutu and over 400 South African academics.

As concerned Canadians for peace in the Middle East, we support academic unions in the UK, India, the US, South Africa, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Germany, Italy, Chile, Brazil, Pakistan, and Canada who have voted to support academic boycott campaign initiatives to put pressure on Israel to end its brutal occupation of Palestine. In its attempts to whitewash its system of colonization, occupation and apartheid, "Brand Israel" campaigns sell 'occupation lite' (allowing Jewish emigre their right of return while denying millions of Palestinians the same right) while draconian domestic laws make it illegal to participate in cultural boycotts within Israel as a form of protest and free speech.

This has only added impetus to a worldwide cultural boycott of Israel by musicians, filmmakers and writers who have refused to perform in Israel or have cancelled scheduled performances following pressure from the BDS movement including Bono, Snoop Dogg, Jean Luc Godard, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott Heron, Carlos Santana, Devendra Banhart, Faithless, the Pixies, Cassandra Wilson, and Canada's own - Cat Power. Artists and cultural figures now speak publicly of their support for BDS including : Roger Waters, Alice Walker, Naomi Klein, John Berger, Judith Butler, Etienne Balibar, Ken Loach, Arundhati Roy, Angela Davis, Sarah Schulman, among others.

In calling on Canada to adopt UN resolutions that recognize the state of Palestine, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, said that, for 65 years, the whole world has shut its eyes to the plight of the Palestinian people, “[t]he reality of Palestine “is a bleeding wound in the conscience of all humanity." Click: http://www.un.org/press/en/2012/ga11317.doc.ht In the face of mounting criticism of Israeli foreign and domestic policy, Canada cannot remain silent about Palestinian political prisoners; it cannot remain silent about illegal Israeli settlements; it cannot remain silent about illegal walls that divide communities; and in the memory of Rachel Corrie - who was killed trying to stop a Caterpillar bulldozer from destroying Palestinian homes and olive groves - we can no longer be forced into silence.

Canada's blatant alignment with the plunderers of Palestine does a historic disservice to our proud tradition of peacekeeping and humanitarianism in the region. Prime Minister Lester Pearson would be rolling in his grave knowing Canada's mission of peace in the Middle East was now defined as constructive complicity in the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza as well as the bombing of towns and villages in Iraq and Syria.

Canada practices an insidious form of political duplicity. When Palestinian leaders go to the UN or Geneva Convention to demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, they are immediately accused of operating outside the parameters of a "negotiated settlement." Meanwhile, Canada simultaneously supports Israel when it ignores international resolutions and several peace proposals that have already established a "negotiated settlement" to end the Israeli occupation.

This is how, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, you can practice an official 'doublespeak' allowing yourself to ignore your own foreign policy paper whereint Canada, " does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied in 1967 (the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip)." Even when Palestinians remind Canadian consular staff not to attend meetings in East Jerusalem with Israeli officials - as it legitimizes the presence of Israeli occupiers on Palestinian land - Canada spins the "negotiated settlement" wheel by blaming the occupied for operating outside of diplomatic jurisdictions when they attempt to gain Palestinian statehood at the UN or demand that ICC lawyers investigate the killing of Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein, 55 and the demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. Canada's unilateral interpretation of international law makes a mockery of our foreign policy commitments: a legacy of peace-keeping and diplomatic multilateralism that has been ideologically dismantled by the Conservative Party of Canada. Sadly, it has turned Canada into an international pariah among global nations, especially within the Arab world.

After reading your recent diplomatic missive: "... Israel Defense Forces have taken extraordinary steps to reduce civilian casualties in very difficult and trying conditions.... Israel should be commended—not criticized—for these efforts....", we find it deeply offensive that you could stand on Palestinian soil just a week ago and declare the murder of 2300 Palestinians, including the deaths of 550 children, as a commendable effort by the IDF.

Never before have we been so ashamed of such Canadian foreign policy posturing and reckless unilateralism on behalf of Israel; your abandonment of Canadian moral and political values like fairness, humanitarianism, conflict resolution and social justice actually increases insecurity and distrust in the region. For this, we demand your immediate resignation as Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Sincerely,

Davis & Rhonda Costas MirzaToronto, CANADADated:23/01/2015

Davismore than 5 years ago

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